Celebrate Washington begins Saturday

By David Hotle | Jul 28, 2014

Again this year, artists will set up in Central Park as part of the annual Celebrate Washington event.

Sarah Sadrakula said that Celebrate Washington, which rolls onto the square Saturday, is a way for Washington to send the summer off with a bang. An artisan trade show, a gallery walk, plenty of live music and food, as well as bean bag tournaments for young and old, are only some of the draws to the sixth running of Celebrate Washington. Sadrakula said that the event, which is being held the first weekend of August, marks the looming end of the events of summer. The event kicks off with the annual Flying Pigs Duathlon, which begins at 8 a.m. Flying Pigs consists of a 5k run, a 20-mile bike ride and a 1.5-mile run. The event is open to individuals or teams of three. Registration begins at 7 a.m. The artisan trade show and gallery walk kick off at 10 a.m. Main Street Washington director Sarah Sadrakula said food vendors would also be available in the park. This part of the event will last until 6 p.m. She said kids’ activities also start at 10 a.m. and go to 6 p.m. The activities will include a bounce house, games, face painting, water fun sprinklers and many others. She said that there would be minnow races this year. “On our bandstand we will have music from 1 until … it is 5 at the moment,” Sadrakula said. She said that the schedule so far is that Jaron Rosien will play from 1 to 2 p.m.; Mike Whittaker and Kurt Hitner will perform from 2 to 3 p.m.; Ben Schmidt will perform from 3 to 5 p.m. She said that from 5 to 7 p.m. the band “Aces and Eighths” would play. She said the music is an all-ages event. A beer tent will open at 4 p.m. in front of Washington State Bank. At 7 p.m. The Bumps will perform and Midnight Stampede will take the stage at 9 p.m. Sadrakula said that a bean bag toss tourney would be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. New this year, she said, is a youth bean bag tournament that will be held beginning at noon. The tourney will be held in the food vending area. “We had a lot of kids last year who wanted to play and we didn’t have a venue for them, so we’re doing that this year,” she said. She said the event started out as an arts festival even before Main Street Washington was founded. She said the event has been expanded to include all people in the area to celebrate the downtown. Since it has been formed, she said, it has been growing bigger and bigger. While not as many artisans have signed up for the trade show, Sadrakula said that there would be plenty to see. One of the artists, from Council Bluffs, is an art photographer. Another artist boasts 542 different varieties of hand-made fudge. Sadrakula also said that volunteers are needed to help put on the event. While about 50 people are currently signed up to work, she said about 212 are needed. For more information on jobs available, go to the Main Street Washington Web site. The entire square will be closed for the event beginning Friday evening. Main Street will be open for handicapped accessible parking after 10 a.m. Saturday. Iowa will reopen at noon Saturday for parking. The remaining streets will be reopened 2 a.m. Sunday.